Lots of Catching up to do

It has been a while and I feel guilty...like I should be updating you...since you seem to care. At my last update I was still slogging along, in a bit of a slump after my last, big race. Well, I found my mojo in the next run, and it has been hanging around ever since! Yay! So a little rest went a long way, and now I have been upping the miles, working on endurance for my two summer challenges. First is the Bulldog 25K in late August, which is long, ridiculously hilly, and hot. More about that as we get closer. Then in September I have my Olympic Triathlon, so I have been doing ocean swims and biking to get ready.

So during graduation week, my parents were here and I only had 1 workout in 6 days. But since then I have worked out every day for the last 11! And since I usually have 1 or 2 rest days per week, that's a pretty good string! Here it is:

Th: 8 miles - hills 8:21 pace (solid effort)
Fri: Gym workout
Sat: 6 miles easy with BIL
Sun: Ocean swim of .85 miles with 1 mile sand run
Mon: 8 miles easy with BILs
Tues: 7 miles at 8:20
Wed: 1200 meters in the pool
Thur: Gym workout
Fri: 7 miles at 8:30
Sat: 33 mile bike ride - longest ever!
Sun: 11 miles at 8:39

Last weekend my wife's family was in town so I ran twice with by Bro in law. He is older and a little slower, so I ran at 9:15-9:30 pace. I can't get myself to run that slow by myself, but having a slow partner made it easier, so it felt good to run easy and finish feeling refreshed instead of exhausted. I need to work on doing the slow runs more often.

The inlaws rented a beautiful house in La Jolla (San Diego) that is on a beach cliff overlooking Pacific Beach. Had a pool and deck with a great view. Awesome. We ran all along the beach for 8 miles on the Fourth, which was lots of fun. Even though it is similar to my usual runs at home, it was a different beach, so I enjoyed it.
So here's some pics. Graduation.

View from the beach house - house next door (similar)

Beach view from patio

Life is good.
My bike ride yesterday was awesome. I planned to do 24, but felt good, and kept extending it to a new record length of 33 miles. Then followed it up today with an 11 mile run that also went well.
So I'm feeling strong, my weight is down to 151, all systems are go!

Oh, I got some sluttie split shorts, and boy did they feel good to run in! Very cool and light, like not wearing anything at all! 

Tuesday I fly to Arkansas for 3 days for work. Planning 1 run in the humid heat on Thursday, if anyone is in Paragould, Arkansas...... anyone... anyone....I hear crickets.

More big news. We are doing a short vacation to Omaha in August to visit friends. I found a 5K that weekend called the Boxer 5K. Runners are encouraged to run in their boxers to raise awareness for Colorectal cancer. So you can look forward to those pics later! Maybe I can meet up with a Loop Superstar there? It is a small race, so an AG placing is a decent bet.

You all have a great week and enjoy your runs!